Chapter 159 Obstruction

"Rest assured, when the opportunity arises in the future, we will see Master Chu again." Madam Xiao patted Xiao Lin's shoulder and comforted her.

Miss Xiao nodded softly, leaning against Madam Xiao's shoulder.

Past midnight.

Chen Xiang sat atop the roof, observing the surroundings carefully. Making sure there was no one in sight, he sent a voice transmission to Madam Xiao.

Receiving Chen Xiang's transmission without hesitation, the three of them made their way toward the back door.

Madam Xiao had stored all their luggage into a storage pouch; apart from the house and their outside properties, she had packed away their entire family fortune.

It amounted to some hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, which was more than enough for the family of three to live a prosperous life.

However, just as they were about to board the carriage, Xiao Tingming suddenly stopped in his tracks and refused to get in.

Madam Xiao cast a suspicious glance at him and asked, "Tingming, what is wrong with you? Hurry and get into the carriage!"

Xiao Tingming's face was twisted in inner conflict, and with a sigh, he said, "Liyan, if we leave just like this, will they... let us go?"

The "they" Xiao Tingming referred to was the Sky Shadow Sect. Madam Xiao naturally knew what he was worried about, but the issue now was not whether they should leave, but whether the Sky Shadow Sect was willing to spare them at all.

"Tingming, regardless of the situation, leaving quickly is what matters most. If they are willing to let us go, they won't come looking for us; if they are unwilling... then there is nothing we can do!" Madam Xiao said with an anxious expression.

At that moment, Miss Xiao also knitted her brows and asked in a low voice, "Mother, is everything you said true? Is that immortal really dead?"

"The source from which I received this news should be infallible!" Madam Xiao said through gritted teeth.

A look of joy crossed Miss Xiao's face, but she suddenly frowned again and asked, "But immortals are so powerful, how could one die?"

Madam Xiao said with a solemn expression, "Immortals are merely cultivators, not true immortals. They have lifespans, and they can be killed."

Miss Xiao nodded, half-understanding, and then asked, "Then will they come looking for us?"

"Uh..." Madam Xiao did not know how to respond, so she said, "I do not know, but we must leave immediately!"

Xiao Tingming sighed and spoke again, "Liyan, those immortals are all exceedingly powerful—so powerful that even you are completely helpless against them. Therefore... we had better wait a little longer!"

"I..." Madam Xiao did not know how to persuade him.

Indeed, she was also deeply worried that after their family fled, they would eventually be caught, and in that event, their fate would likely be unimaginably miserable.

Yet this was also an opportunity, a shred of hope. If they did not leave, their family's future looked utterly bleak. Xiao Lin would still be treated as a cultivation vessel; Xiao Tingming was merely a mortal with a five-attribute spiritual root; and she was just an outer sect disciple with a slightly higher cultivation level.

Under these circumstances, her Xiao family had no foundation whatsoever to turn their fortunes around!

Just as Madam Xiao was torn with hesitation, Xiao Tingming spoke once more: "Liyan, I think we should wait and see for a few days. I believe that a force of that magnitude would not break their promise to us mortals. Rather than wandering outside day by day, living in fear and peril with no security, it is better to trust them."

Madam Xiao's expression grew even more conflicted, and she had no idea how to reply.

Xiao Tingming turned to Miss Xiao and said, "Lin'er, you are no longer a child; you should understand our difficult intentions. Help persuade your mother as well—do you really wish for us to wander destitute outside?"

"I..." Miss Xiao did not know how to begin.

She knew she had caught the eye of an immortal who intended to take her as a concubine.

Although that immortal was handsome and well-mannered, she simply did not like him, and even felt a sense of aversion toward him.

Yet afterward, another unknown immortal had come to threaten her family, even declaring that if they refused, her parents would be killed.

She was merely a frail maiden; how could she withstand such intimidation? Daring not to say more, she could only resign herself to fate.

But now that the immortal was dead, she too wished to break free and decide her own marriage.

Yet she found herself caught in the middle, agonizingly torn.

Madam Xiao grew increasingly anxious, her original resolve beginning to waver to the point where she didn't know what to say.

From high above, Chen Xiang found this scene rather strange.

Why did they start arguing just as they were about to leave? Could they not resolve it after all this time since the afternoon?

Suddenly, Chen Xiang's expression flickered, and he turned his gaze toward the southeast.

A few extremely faint auras were visible, hurtling swiftly toward this location from a mile away.

Chen Xiang was all too familiar with this kind of aura—it was precisely the aura of the Shadow-Stealing Strategy!

The fact that these people from the Sky Shadow Sect had concealed their movement techniques and closed in to within a mile of him before he noticed was a testament to how bizarre and stealthy the Shadow-Stealing Strategy truly was.

Before the figures arrived, their voices reached ahead.

"Xiao family lass, where are you off to?" A booming voice resonated across the heaven and earth.

Startled, Madam Xiao raised her head and looked in the direction of the voice, where three figures had materialized.

Aside from Patron Liu, there were two middle-aged men in black standing in front.

The auras they exuded caused the void to tremble, turning Madam Xiao's face pale and filling her with despair.

"Nascent Soul stage?" Madam Xiao blurted out in shock.

The newcomers were actually two Nascent Soul stage cultivators—one at the third layer of Nascent Soul, and the other at the second layer.

"Hmph, fortunately Elder Luo remembered, or else you really would have let them slip away!" One of the middle-aged men sneered.

"Heh, so what if they ran? Could my Sky Shadow Sect not track them down within half a month?" The other middle-aged man chuckled coldly.

"That's true as well."

Madam Xiao's face was deathly pale, utterly at a loss for how to respond.

She had not expected to be intercepted before even stepping out the door; everything was over.

She harbored no illusions that Chen Xiang could save them. Even if he were in the Nascent Soul stage, what of it? Could he possibly deal with both of them? Besides, he had no obligation to intervene.

The two mortals, Miss Xiao and Xiao Tingming, were pressed down so heavily by the auras of the two Nascent Soul cultivators that they could barely breathe; their faces drained of color, unable even to stand steadily.

Miss Xiao fared slightly better, leaning against the carriage, but Xiao Tingming was forced directly to his knees by the pressure.

"With the two elders present, it was I who was foolish. I only hope the elders can spare our family!" Madam Xiao bowed toward the sky, her voice trembling.

Upon hearing this, the two Nascent Soul elders and Patron Liu all burst into loud laughter.

"Haha, spare you? Ants like you do not even merit a glance from us; why would we need to 'spare' you?" one elder said with utter disdain.

All three members of the Xiao family turned ashen.

Indeed, while they enjoyed great prestige among the mortals of Liuxin City, in the eyes of such high-level cultivators, they were completely insignificant. Had it not been for Xiao Lin's special trait, the sect wouldn't have bothered looking at them twice.

"I couldn't be bothered to quibble with you anyway. We are here by the order of Elder Luo to fetch Xiao Lin. Consider yourselves fortunate!" the elder declared.

Without further ado, he flicked his sleeve, intending to sweep up the carriage.

"No!" Madam Xiao cried out in alarm, reaching out to pull Miss Xiao down.

However, one of the elders let out a cold snort and unleashed a spell art, knocking Madam Xiao backward and causing her to vomit a mouthful of fresh blood.

"Mother!" Seeing this from inside the carriage, Miss Xiao felt tears well up in her eyes. With a piercing scream, she tried to leap out.

Yet spiritual power enshrouded the entire carriage, leaving her completely trapped inside.

At that moment, Madam Xiao resolutely stood up, spat out a spiritual sword from her mouth, and thrust it toward the elder who was controlling the carriage.

"Hmph, overestimating your capabilities!" That elder snorted coldly. A fierce gale swept past, deflecting the spiritual sword off course.

Following that, he too spat out a small black sword from his mouth and commanded softly, "Go."

The small black sword expanded instantly, piercing toward Madam Xiao at a speed several times faster than her flying sword.

If this sword struck true, Madam Xiao would undoubtedly die without a doubt!

Yet at that exact instant, a flash of golden light cut through the air, accompanied by a crisp "clang," and the small black sword was knocked flying.

The elder's spiritual sense suffered a violent shock, his spiritual power dissipating entirely. The carriage dropped back to the ground, and a trace of fresh blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.